The Protector

by Cristin Harber

  “A couple dozen?”

  He shrugged. “No one needs this much square footage unless they have a score of kids.”

  “If not realistic, your reasoning makes sense.” She didn’t know what else to say and imagined the buttoned-up room filled with a giant big-screen television, lumpy sectional, and dozens of kids running around with all their toys. His idea was a definite improvement.

  “So, do you?” he asked, his attention steady and keen.

  Jane tried not to read into that little life-compatibility question that every dating website on earth weighed heavily in its equation for happily ever after.

  “I do,” she admitted, thrilled that she didn’t sound like she’d been huffing helium from balloons.

  “I do, too.” His expression didn’t change, and as though this were everyday banter, he asked, “A lot or a little?” A playful smile broke. “Or, if we lived here, one dozen or two? Given the square footage.”

  This had to be the wine talking. If they lived here? With their future offspring? “You’re awfully casual about our future brethren of kids.”

  He laughed and took her hand. “We’re knocking down walls to remodel, why not fill it up too?”

  Yeah, sure. Why not hold his hand and dream about a future that would never happen. A pang of jealousy strummed in her chest. One day, when he retired, or life changed, he’d still want a warm, open home and a handful of kids. She wouldn’t be the one who shared that with him. “It’s always nice to imagine.”

  “What else would we remodel?” He led them out of the elegant room into one of the attached sitting rooms. The wall directly across from them had been covered with photographs of either Gigi or Dax and some celebrity, famous politician, or renowned philanthropist. Several showed them at award shows. Another wall in this room had been dedicated to framed magazine covers with one of their faces emblazoned on the front.

  “This room…” Chance guffawed. “Says a lot.”

  “No kidding.” She and Teddy never came in there. It felt as though the hundreds of Thane eyes were watching them. Definitely creepy. She couldn’t imagine how Teddy must feel, his parents looking at him from every direction.

  “Where are their family pictures?” His brow furrowed as he quickly reviewed the walls.

  “Here’s one.” Jane pointed to a red-carpet picture. Gigi and Dax flanked a two-year-old Teddy in a white tuxedo—an ensemble determined by a comment-poll from Gigi’s Instagram.

  “That doesn’t count.” Chance rolled his eyes. “I’d knock down these walls too.”

  She laughed. “Maybe you just need a smaller house.”

  His eyebrow arched. “For our two dozen kids?” He shook his head. “Be practical, babe.”

  She laughed. None of this was real. He didn’t want dozens of kids. The wine had clouded his jokes with romantic daydreams. “You’re nuts.”

  He didn’t deny the accusation. “All of this shit would go.”

  “Gone.” She flicked her wrist. “Replaced by a tasteful selection of family pictures. Birthday parties, football games—”

  His expression brightened. “Hey, we’d have more than enough kids to fill our own teams.”

  “Bonus.”

  He chuckled.

  Jane tried to envision their imaginary, ridiculous future as freely as he did. It only made her wistful. “I’d be one of those moms who sent out holiday cards every year. Ya know, the cute ones with the annual family photo. I always wished my parents had done that.”

  He gave her shoulder a small squeeze but then humor curled on his lips. “We could do holiday calendars. A couple kids for each month. We could group them by birthday.”

  “Two dozen kids would take a while.” The idea made her laugh, and then she couldn’t stop laughing. They were acting as certifiable as Dax and Gigi. Yet, she was surprised how easy it was to talk about something so important and intimate. Kids. Family. Marriage? Sure, why not. It was her imaginary future.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  “Would you tell me more about your family?” Jane asked.

  Chance choked on a joke about his willingness to practice making kids. He hadn’t expected the change in topic, but could see how they got there. Jane didn’t want to drudge up pain. But she had the right to know events that formed him as a man. More somber, he rocked back on his heels. “Well…”

  She faltered. “Actually, never mind. You said enough before.”

  He offered too quick of a smile and his body language shifted. Chance took a deep breath, not willing to hide from Jane’s question. “There was more to the situation with my mom.”

  “You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.” She took both his hands and stroked them as though she knew he needed something. “I didn’t mean to press.”

  “Damn, Jane.” His mouth went dry, but he pulled his hands free and wrapped her to his chest. “You’re smart, beautiful, and can read my mind. Quite the trifecta.”

  She tilted her head back, resting her chin on his sternum. “Sensing unsaid family problems is my secret talent.”

  “That sucks.” He wasn’t eloquent but that was the truth.

  She leaned back into his arms. “When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time watching what went wrong in other families.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged and rolled her eyes, stepping out of his arms. “I was a sadistic juvenile. Actually… I watched other families. I wanted to see their problems. To know that I wasn’t alone. But then I realized theirs were always different than mine.” She paced, never stepping out of his reach, but Chance could tell she needed space. “Normally, something happened. There was always an action and then a consequence.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest to keep from holding her. She’d come to him when she needed him. “That made your family different?”

  Jane stopped and stared into the distance for several seconds before facing him. “I couldn’t see the actions that caused consequences with my parents. Their behavior, the way they treated me…” She sighed sadly. “I was too young to understand.”

  He wasn’t sure he understood her meaning now. “What didn’t you get?”

  “Do you know what narcissism means?”

  “Your parents were narcissistic?”

  She nodded. “Clinically.”

  Her clarification didn’t shed any light. “They thought they were very attractive?”

  Tensely, Jane wet her lips. “They believed the world revolved around them, individually, and they’d manipulated or abandoned anything that didn’t react accordingly.”

  “Ouch,” he said.

  “It is what it is. Lots of people have it better and worse.”

  He didn’t know which his childhood qualified as. “My dad was our problem,” Chance admitted. “My mom was really sick. She needed him. I did, too. But my dad left us to be with a younger woman.” He let out a strangled laugh. “You know how it is. I don’t fucking know why it still bothers me. I guess because I couldn’t do more for my mom. She wasted away until… she was gone.”

  Jane stepped close again. “She died?”

  “Yeah.” Chance cleared his throat. “The doctors called it an eating disorder. She was so beautiful—as much on the inside, if not more, than on the outside.” Again, his throat clogged. He swallowed hard. “When I was Teddy’s age, I didn’t get why she just wouldn’t eat. I knew she was hungry. That’s why I learned to cook.”

  Jane rubbed his arm, and he couldn’t stop talking, inching closer. He’d thought she’d come to him when she needed him, but oh the irony, he needed to hold onto her. “As I got older, I could see how she tried to control everything by controlling herself. Everything meaning his philandering ways, I suppose.” The jackass. Chance ground his molars. “He once told me that men get better with age. Then he just looked at my mom and let his unsaid words hang.” That was the first time Chance hated how others perceived him. The good-looking kid. The golden boy. It had fucked him up for years. Maybe it st
ill had. “I was eighteen when she passed. Angry and with something to prove. So, I enlisted. Tried to leave it behind and prove to the world that real men weren’t superficial pieces of shit.”

  He dropped his head back and stared blankly at the ceiling. Jane curled her arms around his torso. With his eyes shut, he let go of all the anger and tension. He rested his chin on top of her head and waited until his resentment regulated. “Did a shitty job of leaving it all behind, obviously.”

  Jane eased back and met his gaze. “You don’t leave behind the things that make you who you are. You use them to make yourself a better person.”

  He worked that over in his head. “Spoken like the strong woman you are.”

  Her cheeks heated. “Speaking from experience. That’s all.”

  “I never told anyone about what happened. Or, rather, why things happened.”

  “Maybe you’re still figuring it all out,” she suggested.

  He didn’t know about that, but of other things, he was certain. Beauty came from within, and that fueled attraction.

  Jane pressed her mouth to his. The kiss lingered. He relished in the way she soothed the dark shadows in his soul.

  She whispered against his lips, “Thought you needed that.”

  “You have no idea.” Chance took her hand and led them from the overdone living room until he found an unadorned anteroom. An oversized couch faced a large picture window. The dark sky melted into the backyard, partially lit by the aqua blue glow from the pool.

  He tugged Jane onto the couch and waited until he had her complete attention. He was ready to battle her uncertainties and dismantle her defenses or doubts, and he’d keep doing it until she understood the truth, and that was simple. He was in love with Jane.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Chance tucked hair behind Jane’s ear. “You have no idea how much you mean to me.”

  A content, almost peaceful, warmth grew in her chest. She couldn’t describe the sensation in any other way other than safe. She trusted him—and she trusted herself too. “I know I do.”

  His gaze sharpened. “You do?”

  Unhurried, she basked in the calm confidence that he cared about her—and that he wanted her. Mentally and physically. She grasped what he’d been struggling for her to comprehend. Nothing could make this man more attractive than his authentic… availability. Chance had patiently given himself completely to her. Her heart squeezed. “You mean so much to me, too.”

  His dark blue eyes burned. Jane pressed her hands to his cheeks, and tension in his jaw ticked under her palms. “That sounds inadequate. But it’s true,” she promised. “I trust you.”

  She reveled in the quickening pace of his breath. Her fingers slid down his face and feathered down his neck. The steady beat of his pulse teased her fingertips until her fingers hooked over his t-shirt collar. “I’m ready.”

  His nostrils tightened. Chance tensed as though holding himself back. He didn’t move a muscle. Then his tongue wet his bottom lip. Jane’s heart raced. She wanted to crawl inside his mind and know what he thought. She wanted to show him what was in her head.

  Jane smoothed her hands down his hard chest. She took her time and savored the rapid-fire beat of his heart. Hers thundered in time. Heat bloomed in her cheeks. Arousal flooded her senses, and merely watching him fiercely watch her was enough to make her wet. She saw the moment for what it was—Chance wasn’t hesitating. He was appreciating. Her.

  Her fingers knotted in his shirt and lifted the fabric up. With one hand, he ripped it over his head and pulled Jane to straddle his lap. The thick length of his erection bulged in his jeans. Shivers rushed across her back. He would soon be inside of her.

  Jane pressed her forehead to his. Their eyes locked, and she repeated herself, whispering, “I’m ready.”

  His pupils dilated. “Thank fuck.”

  She laughed. Chance tore off her shirt and bra. Jane wrapped her arms around his neck. Their bare chests met. The tight, sensitive tips of her nipples brushed against the rough smattering of his chest hair. Her mind spun, not sure she’d ever experienced this desperate level of desire.

  Chance kissed as though he’d been unleashed. His mouth devoured hers. His tongue whipped her into a fever pitch. With the tight grip of his hands on her hips, he ground her against his erection. The fruitless friction packed a punch. Jane writhed for more.

  She kissed his neck, sucking and teasing with playful nibbles. He groaned with satisfaction. The intoxicating taste of his skin mixed with his masculine scent. She inhaled deeply, swooning with another wave of arousal, then fumbled to release him from his jeans.

  “Hang on.” He lifted her to his chest, removed his wallet from a back pocket, and tossed it to the side. Chance settled back, hands firmly holding his hips. Without a word, he questioned her again. Jane nodded.

  The corners of his lips quirked. He lifted her onto her feet, standing between his knees. “Gorgeous.” Then he stripped her shorts and underwear away. “Goddamn fucking gorgeous.”

  She shivered under the thrill of his stare and watched as he unfastened his jeans. The deep thud of her heartbeat marked every second until Chance was gloriously naked. She wasn’t sure how many times she’d seen his body. Since that first night in the shower, they had found a million ways to play. But now, she simply needed to be closer than ever before.

  As though another unsaid conversation had passed, they agreed that everything before tonight had been foreplay. He reached for his wallet, withdrew a foil wrapper, and sheathed his thickness with the condom. Then, dangerous as a wolf but sweet as sugar, he looked to her and took her hand. Her breath hitched as he pulled her over his lap again. Her bare, soft thighs straddled his powerful ones. Jane appreciated his brawn, and she rubbed and played, exploring her ability to excite a man this virile.

  “Tease.” Chance wrapped his arms around her back, grinding her slick sex to his shaft. He groaned, and his mouth found hers. Their tongues played. He was everything at once. Confident and potent. Careful and powerful. Jane liked the way he smiled against her lips, how he could transition from a thousand miles an hour to slow drawling kisses that made her pray for more. “I can’t wait another second.”

  His half-cocked grin was like an empowering challenge. “You can do whatever you want.”

  And she would. Her stomach fluttered. Jane lifted herself from Chance. Cool air kissed their fevered skin. The blunt head of his cock pressed to her entrance. He inhaled sharply, and Jane gave herself over to his thickness.

  Jane’s jaw dropped. He stretched her, filled, made Jane frantic for more. Restraint showed in his tight jaw. Pronounced tendons tensed in his neck. “Sweet Jesus, Jane.”

  She couldn’t speak. The need was too great. Chance gripped her hips. His stormy blue eyes held her still when every part of her screamed to move. Then Chance let loose. He owned her, fucking her, driving in and out, making her cry with empty sensation and beg for mercy as he thrust himself into her again.

  Again and again, he took her to the edge. He drove until orgasm after orgasm melted into one mind-numbing cry of ecstasy. The pull of another climax had her begging for release. Chance pounded into her, demanding, growling, that she come. Jane had no choice. The climax hit her, more intense than she’d ever dreamed. Chance strained, holding her impossibly tight, grunting into her shoulder. His orgasm rolled through her until he had nothing more to give.

  They didn’t move. Didn’t talk. Their hearts seesawed against each other. Jane didn’t have the strength to move from Chance. His arms hung heavy over her back, holding her close.

  He angled his head and kissed her cheek. Jane was glad she waited until she could give herself completely, glad she believed in him enough to know he’d given the same.

  Chance drew a deep breath then lifted her away. “Give me a minute.”

  He headed toward the nearest bathroom. Jane wrapped a large chenille blanket over her naked skin, laid back on the couch, and closed her eyes. She heard his returning footste
ps. Chance lifted the blanket and slipped next to her, possessively pulling her to his naked chest. This was everything she ever wanted. She loved him.

  Warm and fuzzies made her heart clench. Jane nuzzled closer. “Can we sleep here?”

  “Anything you want. The world’s your oyster, babe.”

  “Everything I want is right here—”

  The piercing cry of the alarm system blared. A mechanical alert barked, “Intruder alert. Intruder alert.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  “Someone’s in the house.” Jane couldn’t move—but Chance could.

  “Clothes on, babe.”

  An unknown person had entered the huge house. She didn’t know where or how or why. But the answers weren’t good.

  “Jane.”

  She jerked from her panic. “What?”

  Somehow magically dressed, he tossed her clothes and paced for the eternity it took for her to redress.

  “Come with me.” He pulled her to his side. “Stay close.”

  Thank God that Chance, the resident white knight and protector, would know what to do. Though, truthfully, she should know too. They’d had drills before, and she could make it to a safe room with her eyes closed. Yet, she felt like they were moving in slow motion.

  Chance led them to the first-floor office that the security team kept. He reviewed the security system panel with a quick gaze and flipped a switch. A wall of video footage came to life.

  She didn’t see anything but empty rooms. There’s wasn’t even a stray cat roaming the grounds—not that there would be in a place like this.

  His fingers flew over a keyboard, silencing the alarms, and explained, “Back of the house. Looks like a sensor activated on one of the sliding glass doors.”

  She scanned the monitors. “There’s no one there.”

  “Right now,” he pointed out. “They could have left. That loud-ass alarm is a hell of a deterrent.” He tinkered until he found a video prompt and rewound the footage. There was nothing to see. “What the hell.”